Australian news and politics recap: Tuesday April 10, 2025

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is continuing his pursuit of the Cairns-based seat of Leichhardt, taking to the choppy Coral Sea to visit Green Island.

He is spruiking $10m in fresh funding to establish a new ‘Reef Educational Experience Fund’, which will provide subsidies for educational excursions to the Great Barrier Reef.

“One of the attractions of Australia is to come to this part of the world, and then people will go to a capital city or Uluru or Kakadu or other sites. But the Great Barrier Reef is a magnet for the world,” Mr Albanese said.

“And in order for it to be a magnet for the world, who want to see a pristine environment, we need to be able to show that we’re behaving responsibly and sustainably.

“This reef program that we’re announcing today will provide $6 million for Kids for the Reef, for young people who wouldn’t get the opportunity otherwise to see the reef firsthand.

“Also $1 million for local tourism operators and $3 million to Tropical North Queensland, to tourism, to go out there and tell the world what’s happening here as well as a major attraction.”

Read full story about school excursion subsidies here.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says not reacting to US President Donald Trump’s 10 per cent tariff announcement for Australia has worked in the country’s favour.

Mr Albanese said the US retreat vindicated his strategy.

“Overnight we’ve seen this change,” he told 4BC Radio in Cairns, where he is campaigning.

“What it does is show how important it is that my Government have continued to engage in a considered, adult, mature way, including with the Trump administration.

“We didn’t reach for any panic buttons.”

Donald Trump has breathed new life into a trade deal between Australia and the European Union with hopes that negotiations on reviving the collapsed talks could resume as early as May, The Nightly can reveal.

The US President caved to pressure and lowered the tariffs on most countries except for China to 10 per cent on Thursday.

Because Australia was already slated for a 10 per cent tariff imposition, despite having a free trade agreement with the US, his reversal effectively means there is no change for Australia, government sources confirmed.

In a post on social media, President Trump said that the tariffs would be raised to 125 per cent on China because it has responded with reciprocal measures but that they would lowered, “effective immediately” to the baseline of 10 per cent for everyone else, because they had showed a willingness to make a deal.

But the Trump Administration’s erratic and often punitive approach caused shock amongst the United States’ traditional allies, including Australia, and spurred a fresh attempt at trade diversification that was first triggered after the COVID pandemic and China’s economic coercion of Australia.

Read the full story here.

The Liberal party have released a fully AI-generated advert to promote their fuel excise policy ahead of the Federal election.

The ad includes imagery of a rocket, aliens, fighter jet, F1 car and a motorcycle travelling in slow motion.

One scene includes an alien filling up at the bowser with the caption “this planet’s petrol is so cheap” in full caps.

The advert’s disclosure at the end jokingly states: “Our halving the petrol tax policy does not include fighter jets and will not be applicable for extra terrestrials”.

The coalition’s energy plan would result in thousands fewer jobs and tens of billions in foregone private investment, modelling shows as the major parties prepare to square off over their energy proposals.

Before the first election debate between Energy Minister Chris Bowen and opposition spokesman Ted O’Brien, the Electrical Trades Union has released analysis showing nearly 12,000 jobs building transmission lines would be lost if the coalition scrapped the Rewiring the Nation plan.

The analysis uses modelling conducted by Frontier Economics for the coalition, which includes 80 per cent less investment in transmission than under the energy market regulator’s Integrated System Plan.

The union’s national secretary Michael Wright said Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was planning a “jobs bloodbath” for the electrical industry.

Read the full story here.

Peter Dutton says his dad is doing well after visiting him in Queensland on Thursday.

The Liberal Leader travelled to his home state on Wednesday evening after media appearances in Western Sydney while media shadowing his campaign were sent to Melbourne.

“He’s in a good place at the moment,” he told 2GB on Thursday morning.

Mr Dutton revealed he “didn’t know the full extent of what had happened” going into the leaders debate in Western Sydney on Tuesday evening but had spoken with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to agree to continue.

He’s expected to return to his election campaign Thursday morning before heading to Perth to appear at a Seven West Media breakfast conference on Friday morning.

Mr Dutton said he was grateful to the “thousands of people who have texted or sent messages”.

“I know he’s very appreciative as well,” he said.

The Deputy PM continued to highlight Australia’s plan to work with close nations.

“We are focused on building markets and diversifying our trade, as I said,” Mr Marles told ABC News Breakfast.

“We have done alot more in South-East Asia, for example, with countries like Indonesia which is, you know, a massive market that’s going to grow right next to us.

“We’re about to sign a new trade agreement with India which is the biggest country in the world now. We’ve even done a trade agreement with the UAE which is the gateway to the Middle East, an important market for Australia.

“We have doubled our trade with the UK over the last three years.

“So we’re focused on diversifying our trade and, yes, we stabilised our relationship with China and that’s a good thing, but fundamentally what we’re doing is diversifying our trade around the world and building Australia’s economic resilience.”

Deputy PM Richard Marles says the focus is “building Australia’s economic resilience,” amid new tariffs imposed by the United States.

It comes as Donald Trump announces a 90 day pause on global tariffs for all countries, a temporary reprieve for Australian exporters facing potential new trade barriers.

This reprieve doesn’t extend to Trump’s proposed tariffs targeting China, with the country now facing a 125 per cent tariff after responding with higher tariffs for the US.

Despite reports that Australia is speaking more closely to China in opposition to the trade policies, Mr Marles said Australia hasn’t spoken to the Chinese Government yet.

“Well, no, and it’s about pursuing Australia’s national interests, not about making common calls with China. So we’re not doing that,” Mr Marles said on ABC News Breakfast on Thursday.

It’s only been nine days since Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock last spoke publicly, following the central bank’s latest decision to keep interest rates on hold.

But in economic time, it feels like years have passed.

Ms Bullock noted that the central bank’s board was concerned that uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs could lead to slower economic growth.

Uncertainty persists, but the seismic market reaction to the unprecedented escalation in trade hostilities shows that the situation is worse than had been feared.

Ms Bullock’s first public appearance since the US tariff announcements, at the Chief Executive Women Melbourne annual dinner on Thursday night, will be closely scrutinised for any indication as to how the RBA will respond to the carnage.

Read the full story story here.

Australians are being asked who they have more faith in to steer the economy through turbulent times, as Donald Trump’s trade war prompts the major parties to press their economic credentials.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and his opposition counterpart Angus Taylor clashed over mounting spending, claims of secret cuts and falling living standards in the first treasurers’ election debate on Wednesday night.

But in their pitch to voters, both men essentially urged Australians not to risk it by electing the other side.

Mr Taylor borrowed a slogan from former Liberal prime minister John Howard, casting the coalition as superior economic manager compared to Labor, who he accused of overseeing a record decline in living standards.

“We are living in uncertain and tumultuous times, and the choice of this election is who do you trust to manage the economy?” he said.

Read the full story here.